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Kristin Hersh, "Speedbath"
Kristin's principled self-emancipation from record labels seems to have had a noticeably invigorating effect on her work, as Speedbath features some of her strongest songs in recent memory. Notably, Hersh's newfound career optimism has not infected her songwriting one bit: these 12 songs brood and bristle with characteristic dark intensity (even more so than usual, actually).
Coalition of Artists & Share Holders (CASH)
Speedbath gradually came into being as a pay-what-you-like series of downloads in which Hersh posted one song each month for a year (with accompanying artwork and some background about each song’s conception). Complete creative freedom can be an intimidating environment to thrive in, but Kristin has clearly been quite fertile. Always a uniquely human artist, the success or failure of her past work has historically been heavily reliant on how much passion and enthusiasm has been poured into it and how much her raw charisma has been smothered or smoothed-over by slick production. Speedbath, happily, is one of the more soul-baring and undiluted albums of her career.
The album begins quite strongly, as “Slippershell” and “Torque” seethe with conviction and rueful catharsis. The haunting third song, “Around Dusk,” however, is a stone-cold career highlight. The delicate acoustic guitars are beautiful, the quivering electric guitars are perfectly placed, the vocals are mesmerizing, the backing vocals are haunting, and the lyrics are darkly poetic (“throw your arms around me, wrapping the night in ugly harmony”). The fragile and hazy “Elizabeth June” (about a departed friend) is another stunner, as is the title track, with its vaguely Latin percussion and scathing chorus of “and you were so goddamn cold.” In fact, there is very little that can be considered weak here, as even the lesser tracks often yield some striking moments or particularly inspired lyrics. Hersh has not sounded this vital in a while and seems to be only getting better as a lyricist.
My only minor quibble is that Speedbath is a bit too rooted in contemporary indie rock sounds and textures for my liking. Obviously, it makes sense, given Hersh’s previous work as a Throwing Muse, but it fixes her songs very firmly in a time period. Her folkier, more acoustic outings (like Murder, Misery, and Then Goodnight or the beloved Hips and Makers album) still sound fresh many years later. Several songs on Speedbath, however, have a definite “sell by” date for varying reasons (the pseudo-trip hop drums in “Around Dusk” are one example, the fuzzy guitars in the chorus of “Slippershell” are another). Catchy beats and distorted guitars certainly make songs more rocking and immediately gratifying, but Kristin at her best is intense enough to be compelling without such crutches.
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